The highway patrol also stated that the Toyota was behind another tractor trailer. When the truck rear ended her vehicle, it pushed Fortner’s car under the trailer of the truck in front of her.

Her family told the police that when she did not come home after a movie, they found her at a local hospital. They were able to be with her for two hours and say goodbye before she died.

Our View

Our tractor trailer accident attorneys send our deepest condolences to the family of this young woman. It is always tragic to lose a loved one in an accident, but it is especially terrible for someone to die in such a preventable tractor trailer accident.

All tractor trailer drivers have an obligation to obey the rules of the road and to focus on their driving and nothing else when behind the wheel. Tractor trailers can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and hitting a passenger vehicle at high speed leads to catastrophic injuries and death in many cases.

What qualifies as ‘texting’? The FMCSA states that texting means entering alphanumeric text into or reading text from any type of electronic device. This means the following are prohibited for truck drivers while they are driving: emailing, short message services, instant messaging, accessing web pages, or pressing more than one button to initiate or terminate a voice communication with a mobile device.

The FMCSA warns that it will fine drivers up to $2750 for violations of this rule, and drivers can be suspended for repeated violations. The agency also notes that truck crashes are 23.2 times greater for commercial drivers who text while driving.

However, if you have been injured by a truck driver or lost a loved one in a truck crash, you may be interested to learn about who you should sue in a tractor trailer accident. Our truck accident attorneys Richard Shapiro and Randy Appleton answer this question briefly in a recent radio interview: